If you are looking for a new flooring material, nothing beats the warmth and elegance of timber.  For something that truly lasts the test of time, you can’t go past hardwood timber floors but what are they exactly?  Here’s everything you need to know.  If you have any further questions, or want to look at some different hardwood floors for yourself, just visit your local timber flooring professional.

About Hardwood

One way you can tell hardwood from softwood is that hardwood tends to have gum veins running through the timber while softwoods have knots in the timber.  It’s all about looking at the grain.  Hardwoods are generally grouped into three colour groups – red hardwoods, brown hardwoods, and blonde hardwoods.   The actual hardness of the timber is determined by something called the Janka Rating, which measures the timber’s resistance to indentation and abrasion.  The higher the Janka Rating, the harder the wood is.  It is good to try and pick a floor with a high Janka Rating as you can then be sure that it will resist foot traffic very well.

Some common types of hardwoods that you will find include:

• Merbau
  
  
• Jarrah
  
  
• Grey Iron Bark
  
  
• Red Iron Bark
  
  
• Blackbutt
  
  
• Brush Box
  
  
• Red Gum
  
  
• Spotted Gum
  
  
• Turpentine
  
  
• Karri
  
  
• Forest Reds
  
  
• Beech
  
  
• Tallowwood

Types of Hardwood Timber Floors

There are different types of hardwood timber floors to choose from.  Tongue and groove is one of the most popular options and it simply means that the timber boards are laid in an interlocking way – the tongue on one board interlocks with the groove on another board.  Tongue and groove flooring is top nailed (nails are visible) or secret nailed (where the nails are invisible).  You can also have solid timber hardwood floors which are the structural timber floors. The boards are laid on tops of joists and bearers in order to create the floor.  Yet another option is the solid timber overlay flooring which are solid timber boards that are laid over an existing subfloor such as a concrete slab.  The flooring is fixed in the same way as tongue and groove flooring.

Benefits of Hardwood Timber Floors

Hardwood timber floors are great for a number of reasons. Firstly, they bring a feeling of warmth and beauty to your home unlike any other material available.  Hardwood timber floors look great in all styles of homes and they will never go out of fashion. In fact, they will stay looking great for a lifetime.  Hardwood timber floors are also incredibly durable and are capable of standing up to heavy traffic.  As well, if your floors do start to look a little tatty, all you need to do is to sand and recoat them to bring them back to their original beauty.  Hardwood timber floors are also incredibly low maintenance and easy to clean, and they are also very hygienic, making them great for allergy sufferers.